Lake Manyara

Penuel met us after breakfast and checkout at the hotel. He’ll be our guide for 2 and a half days, luckily, because we really like him. We drove into the town of Arusha to get something at an electronics store and some local currency — Tanzanian shillings (10,000 bill = $3.67 US). Then we continued west for about 1.5 hours. Our last hotel was an oasis of green because of all the moisture coming from Mt Meru, but the land most of the rest of the way was brown — until we got to Lake Manyara National Park, which was surrounded by jungle. When they were close to the road, we saw elephants, lots of baboons, monkeys, crowned hornbills, black herons, impala, bushbucks, and a single giraffe — the only animal that seemed spooked by our vehicle and walked away from us. All the others totally ignored us, often walking right in front of or behind our Land Cruiser. Our lodge in Karatu is a bit more rustic, separate little buildings spread out among trees and a coffee plantation. At dinner on the patio, the staff surprised us with singing Happy Birthday to Jack and giving him a cake lit with sparklers!Read more